What makes you happy ? That is a question I was asked a few days ago. I took a second to think about it . As a million thoughts blew through my mind , I became aware that at that moment ….. I wasn’t really happy. I am currently out of town for work. I’m not happy with my job. I am not happy at the hotel I am staying at. I am not happy in the city I am currently living for 3 months. I am not happy that I am not home . I am not happy that I have not seen my pets and family for awhile. So what do I do about it ?
I am the most content when I am home. Near familiarity. In my condo with everyone and everything that reminds me of where I came from. I have not even written a blog for a month. I have had zero inspiration.
I was watching a YouTube video on Jeffrey Star. If you had not heard about him you should check him out. He is a beauty guru who started from the bottom and has become a millionaire by hard work and his love of cosmetics. It got me really thinking of my career. What I’m doing with my life. Why am I still working in a career that I absolutely hate ? Answer ??? Bills !! Mortgage ! Food ! ……. but …. what about my happiness ?
What makes me happy ? What can I do for the rest of my life that will not make me dread waking up in the morning or dread going into work ? I feel like I have wasted YEARS wanting the days to hurry up so the weekend would arrive because I didn’t have to work. What really blows my mind is how long I have stayed in such an unhappy place. I remember when I was scheduled to have a major surgery I sat down with my physician to discuss all of the pros and cons of my surgery and my recovery time …..I only focused on my recovery time. As he sat in front of me and told me the minimum recovery time for this surgery was 6 weeks and maybe longer …..all I could think about was the 6 weeks I would be off work. Forget about the possibility of me heavily bleeding during the surgery , the possibility of having hysterectomy , the possibility of death ….well all that was just overshadowed by the instant joy I felt of having 6 weeks off of work !
Something is definitely wrong here. I should have been way more concerned with the surgery than having time off of work.
The problem is I didn’t know what to do with myself. There were bills and responsibilities I had as an adult. Sometimes I really hate being an adult.
One day I went to see an academic advisor. As we sat in this large room that echoed , the advisor asked me what could he help me with. I said I hate my career. I chose the wrong one. I need to start over but I don’t know what to do with myself. I could hear the ticking of the clock and wondered when he was going to respond. Then he finally spoke up and said ” if you could do anything you wanted , be anything you wanted , what is the first thing that pops in your head? It took me about a half of a second to blurt out ” I want to be the next Stephen King “. My advisor looked a little surprised . He smiled and said ” so you love to write ? “. I said yes. I have since I was a little girl. He said I was in the wrong school looking at the wrong programs. I looked down at all of the IT information that was in my hands. I was a little confused because I didn’t think a writer could make enough money to make ends meet unless you were actually Stephen King.
I took some time for myself to really think about what I actually like and how I can incorporate that into my life and make a career out of it. I have some ideas and I am slowly working on the process of getting into Social media marketing. Without getting into too much boring details about the process , I will just say I am working on it. I have a vision and I know it will just take some time to put it in place.
Until then …. I am hanging on by a thin rope.
Here is the video that has Inspired me. Maybe it will inspire you too !
ChristinaAlexander 